Joliet Central High School

Joliet, Illinois

Teacher: Michael Reilly

Personal Responsibility

by Jamie Ludwig
Grade 11

 

           

In today’s society people are too stuck on the idea that nothing is their fault and everything they do is right. Too often is the duties of one person passed along to another, and some can’t admit when they are wrong. Many problems in communities today deal with teenagers. Whether it is doing drugs or robbing stores or fighting, many kids problems have to do with their families or parents. A lot of teenagers have sex at a young age and end up being a kid raising a kid. On the other hand there are parents who get divorced and their kids get thrown from house to house. Problems in communities are also caused by kids or have to do with the community itself.

           

A lot of “kids” are having kids and they are unable to support them. The child gets brought up in an unstable home and harmful beliefs are instilled in their minds. There are also families where both parents work and the kids are left home alone or with a babysitter. The kids grow up alone and later in life are unable to function well around others, either in a school, or work setting. They grow up believing they are not loved and get caught up with the wrong crowd. There are also families where the parents are divorced. When children see adults fighting and arguing they start to think it is ok and pick up a lot of their behavior and language. What the child develops to be when they get older depends so much on the parents. If parents instill morals and teach right from wrong and are there for their children, than the children should grow up pretty normal. Some parents have to realize the effect they have on children, and how much they are watched and copied by all children. Parents have to accept responsibility and always remember that what they do and don’t do is going to develop their child and that every action has an outcome.

           

Other problems in the community, is the community itself. On a day to day basis, kids tend to get bored doing the same thing day in and day out. If the government got more involved, maybe help build local gyms and buildings that had pool tables, pools,  basketball courts and so on, there would be less kids on the street all night doing drugs or robbing a local convenient store. What neighborhoods have to offer to teenagers impacts what they do for fun. If there is nothing to do, for instance no movie theatres or no parks and so on, kids make up things to do whether it be legal or illegal. The government has an effect on teenagers and they too need to accept responsibilities for what teenagers do and realize that kids need variety in their lives.

           

Problems today are also caused by kids themselves. School for instance, teenagers get picked on all the time for not wearing the “cool” name brand or for not listing to the right music. If you get bullied all the time, you get really aggravated and stick up for yourself by fighting the bully. Fighting is the only defense kids feel is acceptable to stick up for yourself. People pick on others because they have problems or they are getting picked on, but in fact they are only creating more problems. People have to realize what they are doing and take responsibility for their actions.

           

There is a lot of misfortune in society. Poverty is a major problem. There are a lot of less fortunate people or families in your community. I don’t mean the families that don’t have pools or big screen TV’s, I’m talking about the families that hardly have enough money to get buy. Scraping up change around the house, or having to borrow money, to buy dinner is not most peoples idea of a good life. If we all helped fellow neighbors out, we could help eliminate poverty crimes, such as stealing. Neighborhoods could have donations and charity drives, such as clothing of food drives. There are companies such as Amvets and Blue Heart that have drives all over the nation, but local donations would be more beneficial because you can actually see how you are helping.

           

In communities all over the world, problems exist. Whether or not people help out is their responsibility, which they have to decide as the events come their way. How kids turn out when they become adults depends on the decisions their parents made while they were raising them. Every action has a consequence therefore we have to be “responsible” when we make decisions. To make a community a better place, every single person has to help. One person can help make a difference but a whole community can make a difference. As teenagers mature, they have more responsibilities and decisions to make. If parents made the right choices when raising their child than that child will be able to go out and make something of themselves. In schools and society all together people have to realize that what they do or say effects others in some way. Everyone has responsibilities and it is their duty to know when and how to make the right decisions.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Essay  Questions

 

1. Society invests in marriage by watching the percentage of the living together couples fall after only a year and a half.

 

2. Couple 1-26 yrs. Good and honest marriage. Couple 2-7 yrs. Trusting in one another will always keep the marriage strong. Couple 3-2yrs.Spending time with one another and if they have kids then them too. Couple 4-10yrs. They should always have good communication. Couple 5- 3yrs. Never forget anniversaries and birthdays. Couple 6-1and a half yrs. Honesty is the best policy. Couple  7-5 yrs. They should both go to church. Couple 8- 22yrs. Talk things out, never walk away. Couple 9-4yrs. Do not let little things cause a hindrance in your marriage. Couple 10-11yrs. Never go to bed with an unresolved conflict.

 

3. Our collective goal should be to try and change the world to make it a better place to live in for ourselves and for future generations.

 

4. To try and work together as hard as they can to see that this town is a safe and respectable community for everyone’s well-being.

 

5. I believe that there is a gap between the kids and their parents. I feel that the kids do not get enough attention and that is why they made a doll that looks like their mother so you can feel as if the mother role is being played correctly.

 

6. According to Kathleen Sullivan, she loves the idea of lawyers fighting for what is right even if it is real small. She believes that there should be regulations that enable people to feel better about justice being served.

 

7. I feel that bad practices are changed by regulations because some lawyers sometimes “overlook” the law.

 

8. Three reasons why baby boomers should retire are it would open more jobs for other people, do what they have always wanted to do, and spend more time with the family.

 

9. I do not think it will succeed due to the fact that many people are not even trying to find jobs, their just watching the welfare check role in.

 

10. Three similes between Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis are that they both have a great paying job, they are both very focused on what they really want out of life, and they both have a passion for kids.